Dónal Kearney
Dónal is the Community Manager with non-profit community development organisation, Grow Remote. Grow Remote runs training and events to promote the positive impact of remote employment in towns and villages across Ireland. In the role, Dónal supports local volunteer leaders directly and manages the nationwide plan for local events and experiences across the Grow Remote community.
Dónal’s own community background is multifaceted. While studying Law and Human Rights to Master’s level, he volunteered on rights-based projects in communities in Bolivia and Ecuador and has worked with leading human rights organisations in Ireland, north and south. He was Research Assistant to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders while working at the United Nations OHCHR in Geneva in 2014. This post provided a profound insight into the power of grassroots community development and inspired him to work closer to home.
Dónal is Director of Ecojustice Ireland, a non-profit legal entity committed to Just Transition. Dónal is also an advocate for arts education. He trained with humanitarian organisation Musicians Without Borders and has years of education and community work experience developing music programmes in schools across county Dublin. In 2019, he co-founded the non-profit education and performance academy, the Irish Institute of Music and Song.